Reading Response 4

Reading Response #4

            What started in the world religion and Islam class here at NDNU has continued will reading chapter 11 on Islam. I am fascinated by the religion and all of the history behind it. I personally am a Roman Catholic by birth, but do not practice my religion. In fact, at this point I do not have any place for religion in my life, so I am not looking to make a move to the Muslim faith. This is just to get my thoughts out about what strikes me about the history of Islam.

            When I first entered into these classes to learn about the Muslim religion I really knew nothing about it. The bulk of what I did know is what you hear about on the news, that small 5% or less of Muslim extremist terrorists groups. It is fair to say that my view was very swayed. I can say now that I do have a greater respect for the religion.

            The first thing that struck me was the amount of history that there is about the man who started it all, Muhammad. Now this may be because I was raised catholic and did the hole alter boy thing as a child, but Jesus never just seemed like a man. Jesus always seemed divine from the start and could do no wrong. This also the fact there is a decent amount of Jesus life that is unaccounted for. On the other hand Muhammad seems to be just a normal guy doing his best to live life like anyone else. He was a hard worker working for his uncles company traveling across the desert. He eventually married a rich widow. These are just some simple facts about his life that to me bringing him closer to those who read about him.

             Now normally, when it comes to the stuff about him meeting God I would begin to loose interest. However, the imagery with which the stories speak makes it very interesting. I was intrigued with the story of Muhammad traveling through the different layers of heaven to meet God. I found it very interesting that so many profits were shared in this story and that Jesus was recognized as one of them. I just thought it was pretty cool that all three religions that stem from Abraham were represented in this scene.

            Finally, the fact that Muhammad was a warrior when he had to be was fun to read about. Now from a small percent of people in the world, nobody wants to fight or go to war with anyone. Muhammad fell into this group of people who only fought when there was no other way. For me when reading about these battles and the way in which the Quran interprets when fighting is required struck me. According to the news, Muslims are looking to strike down any person that does not follow Muhammad. In fact that is not the case. The only time it is ok to fight according to the Quran is if someone is threatening his or her way of life directly and there is no other choice.

            In conclusion, I know that this is not really an in depth look into any particular part of the Muslim faith. Instead I decided to share how these readings and the previous religion courses opened my eyes about one of the world biggest religions.